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How Babies Will Be Made
For the first time in human history, we human beings are on the verge of being able to manufacture our own children. Over the past decade, farmers have raised trillions of genetically-manipulated crops. Using the techniques of genetic engineering, scientists have been able to make what some consider to be better fish, better grain, better plants, and better animals. The question that might quietly slip by us now, if we are not careful, is this: Should we use similar techniques to make what some consider to be better human beings?
Fast-paced developments in technology are opening up prospects for the genetic engineering of children. So far, the discussions and decisions about these technologies have been led primarily by scientists and biotech entrepreneurs. It seems to me, though, that a conversation about technologies so consequential ought not to be monopolized by any group. We need a broad-based public conversation about the new biotechnologies and their implications for mothers, fathers, and children. While there is still time, we need a vigorous, democratic public debate about how we should use these powerful new tools.
To help spark such a conversation and debate, Mothers for a Human Future, Public Conversations Project, the Center for Genetics and Society, and the Jamestown Project have collaborated to create a new series of short videos to be distributed on the web starting today, just in time for Mother’s Day. Our goal is to help bring parents up to speed on new technologies that are transforming how babies are made and have the potential to alter human nature—so that we will all be better prepared to participate in the conversation and decision-making about them—before the decisions become irrevocable. Take the time to visit www.bioconversations.org, spread the word, and keep the conversation going.
Enola G. Aird, Mothers for a Human Future
www.mothersforahumanfuture.org
May 5, 2010
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